Five of the best extreme adventures

Cruising

The Congo
Beginning in the commercial hub of Kisangani, passengers board a traditional
river cruiser and travel along two-thirds of the largest navigable portion
of the Congo to Kinshasa. The journey passes through dense forest, with
stops at remote villages and a chance to meet some of the last surviving
bands of pygmies. For the 20 nights on the river – first charted in 1874 by
British explorer Henry Stanley, who described his journey as leading into "the
heart of an immense darkness" – passengers camp on the Congo's banks.